The Recommended Vault Parallel to the Artistry of Society's Driftwood: Cult Guide

Dir: Louis Chaudet

Billy simply has no use for mothers-in-law, and when his bride informs him that "mother" is coming for a visit, he digs up an excuse concerning a business trip to 'Frisco. It is only camouflage on Billy's part, for his real reason is to meet a couple of lady buyers who are sportively inclined. And that's where the complications begin. Wifey must see him off on the boat which gets his "goat," since he knows he is in for a healthy bath in swimming back to town. The bride, in the meantime, is entertained at a shady roadhouse by friendly neighbors, and Billy takes his buyers there to drink at the shrine of Bacchus. The upshot of it all is, the place is raided, and Billy finds out that his story of the sinking boat is a figment of his imagination. But mother-in-law arrives in time to restore amicable relations. And Billy finds that his prejudice hasn't a leg to stand on for she proves to be his fair companion - the buxom buyer.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Captain's Courage perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Set on the shores of Lake Michigan in 1853, Captain Plum searches for the pirate who kidnapped Marion Whitley's brother.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

Kid Allen, the daughter of Mate Allen, a drunken ex-sailor, waits every night to take Mate home from a saloon. After Mate beats up saloon owner O'Keefe for trying to kiss Kid, O'Keefe kills Mate. Kid shoots and kills O'Keefe, and then leaves on a pony to get "a education," which her father wanted her to have. When she falls and sprains an ankle, Joe Emory, a sheep herder, nurses her and they fall in love, but she continues her journey. At a university town, cow puncher Nick Horton escorts her to the school, where he fights the president and some students, after being told that Kid is not ready to enter. The president stops Kid and Nick from being arrested, and puts Kid in a boarding school, but after she learns that school will last for seven years, she returns to Joe. As they kiss, they fade into a statue of Cupid embracing Psyche.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Love Call perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Two ships are caught in the Arctic ice.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

As an infant, Ruth Drake was stolen from her father by her vengeful mother, and then abandoned. She was adopted and raised by a pawnbroker, and as a young woman joins the Salvation Army in order to help the kinds of people she has seen--and was--growing up. When war breaks out in Europe, she volunteers to go to France, and there meets a young man who has had an affair with a prominent actress. When Ruth and the man return to the US, the actress is outraged that her former boyfriend is now seeing Ruth, and sets up a scheme to frame Ruth for a robbery. However, during the trial certain facts come out that shock everyone.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Tentacles of the North perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Rex Carson, son of cattleman Jim Carson and in love with Molly Moran, the daughter of a sheepman, defends the rights of the sheepherders to graze their herds on the free range, while his father and the other cattlemen oppose them to varying degrees, and this leads to the father disowning his son.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

A girl nicknamed "The Weed" lives with her foster parents in their mountain cabin and frequently visits a nearby health resort to sell milk and eggs. On one of her excursions, she befriends a cantankerous old millionaire, George Bassett, who later bequeaths to her his entire estate. Ralph Long's car plunges down an embankment, and he is dragged from the wreckage and looked after by the Weed, who soon captivates him with her charm and ingenuousness. While he is in the hospital, however, the lecherous Kenneth Stewart snaps a photo of the girl swimming in the nude in a mountain pool and hangs an enlargement of it in his club. He once attempts to enter her room but she bolts him out. Through a neighbor, Ralph learns that Stewart is actually the girl's father, whose abandonment of his wife soon after the Weed's birth led to the woman's death. Ralph confronts Stewart, and the latter, deeply ashamed, leaves town. Ralph resolves to keep the truth from the Weed and proposes to her.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Blue Bonnet perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

When a heroic rescue leaves him disfigured, Jack finds work and romance at a local bank. Betrayal forces him to flee town, but experimental surgery offers an unexpected path to justice.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

Hoop-La, the beautiful star of Minor's Mammoth Circus, a one-ring affair which tours county fairs and small towns, delights crowds with her bare-back riding, trapeze acts, and clowning. Reared in the confines of the circus by Old Toodles the clown, in accordance with her father's dying request, Hoop-La naively accepts the attentions of good-looking Joe McGee, a cheap horseman, after winning a race for him as a jockey. Tony Barrows, the foppish scion of a wealthy family, falls in love with Hoop-La, but she resents his snobbery and makes faces at him. When Hoop-La learns that her father was wealthy, she secretly marries McGee to save herself from a dull society life, but when she discovers McGee's true character, she promises to keep him supplied with money if he leaves. After Hoop-La goes to live in her own luxurious home, McGee plans to make the marriage known and live with her, but he dies in a tent fire caused by his own drunken debauchery. Hoop-La marries Tony, who has matured and come back from the war.

Dir: Louis Chaudet

Alice Davis and Charles Turner are arrested for petting in an automobile and marry on impulse. When Alice's mother comes to live with them, she quickly sees that she is not wanted, and she finds a job soliciting for a bus touring company. In the meantime Charles's father, having sold all his property, arrives in town to live with his son and daughter-in-law. He also finds living with his children disagreeable, leaves the house, and accidentally meets Mrs. Davis. They fall in love and decide to announce their engagement, but Charles is arrested for embezzling company funds. At first reluctant to help his son, Mr. Turner is persuaded by Mrs. Davis to give up his life's savings to save Charles, and both couples are happily reunited.